Uncanny
by Hitoko-sama
Summary: Itachi is not a bad man, but a man sinking into bad circumstances. After his brother's lover was horrifically murdered, Itachi throws himself into a plot that leaves blood on his hands and questions on his lips.
1. Chapter 1

It was quiet. From the outside, cars could be heard faintly as they passed by, and the falling patters of the rain. Lightning flashed and thunder ripped through the air, causing him to jump awake. The first thing he noticed was he was sitting upright, something over his head. The material was scratchy against his face and when he breathed in, his mouth sucked it against his lips, chapping them. An air of panic filled his lung, as he slowly realized: one, he couldn't see. Two, he couldn't move, being firmly tied to a chair. And three, someone was coming.

Part of himself screamed to pretend to still be asleep, but his body was stilled with fear. A door opened and closed- he could hear footfalls and they stopped right in front of him. There was a brief rustling of something-like he put something on a table beside them. The bag was ripped from off his head and he blinked-his eyes needing less time to adjust to the light than he thought.

He tried to pull at the tape on his wrists, staring at the surprisingly good-looking face in front of him. He had never seen him before in his life, but there as still an air of familiarity about his face-like he had seen him somewhere but he couldn't place it.

"Where I am?" He choked out, still pulling to find a weak spot in the tape-a rip or bubble. The man turned away from him, opening up the bag on the table. He didn't look-he could see the faint glisten of metal and he didn't want to know for sure if it was a knife. "You're that serial killer, aren't you? The one that's been cutting people's eyes out."

The man actually huffed with a laugh. He turned back towards the man tied to the chair-the remnants of patronizing smile on his lips. "You and I both know that he doesn't cut their eyes out, does he?" His full gaze was on the man tied to the chair, watching his face, analyzing his reactions. He could tell the man actually less scared than he was letting on.

"I'm not a bad man." The man tied to the chair's breaths were coming out in rapid puffs. The room was dimly lit-no windows and the light bulb hanging by a thread from the ceiling was nearly out by itself. But he could see his face, just barely. He was so handsome, dark eyes and equally dark hair-It was pulled back into a loose pony tail at the base of his neck. He had creases around his eyes and a high, aristocratic nose. His lips were thinned into a line as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. He sighed as he lit it. "I really don't do things like this anymore." The man just stared at him, the cherry illuminating his face just so slightly. "But, you made my brother cry…and for that, I cannot forgive you."

"Oh." The man tied to chair relaxed slightly, he laughed. "So, instead of calling the police, to prove my innocence in this matter, you're just going to kill me?"

"They could never prove it was you." The man with the cigarette ashed, re-igniting the illumination of his face. "You made sure to be extra clean, you have no relations to the victim, and most importantly, he was your first, isn't that right? Sai-I believe?"

Sai looked up a little, with a smile on his lips. "Are you trying to imply I'm a bad man, mister…?"

"You're the Sandman, after all. I would say 'yes', you are a bad man." He assured without a hint of doubt. Sai shuddered a little. "And no, you will not have the privilege of knowing my name. This isn't about me."

"No, you're doing this for your brother-which means you must be Detective Itachi Uchiha, who was pulled from the Uzumaki case for personal biases. Sasuke Uchiha was Naruto's boyfriend, and the number one suspect. It's all over the papers."

Itachi said nothing.

"Tell me something," Sai leaned forward in the chair, feeling the tape around his wrists strain with the tugging. "You seem awfully certain it was me who did this heinous crime-what makes you so sure?"  
-

"You're walking?" Naruto turned towards his coworker. He had just strolled into the breakroom and slung his coat onto the mesh back of one of the chairs. He still smelled lightly of cigarettes. His spiky hair was clasped up onto the back of his head and he shook it with some amount of disapproval.

"Yeah dude, I gotta save money somehow."

"It's rain season."

"Oh, come on, I was born in Washington. I'm basically immune to rain by this point. Besides, on the days its dumping, they do have these nifty inventions called umbrellas."

"Ya, that's all fine," Naruto looked back over his shoulder to his larger coworker opening the microwave and pulling out an El Gigante Burrito Supreme. He slapped it onto the table and rummaged through the small basket on the table for hot sauce. "You could have always texted me or Shika for a ride. You live like…less than a mile away."

"Yeah, and that's why it's okay for me to walk."

"We work graveyard, dude."

"Choji, Shikamaru," Naruto clapped his hands together, using the tips of his fingers to point towards them. "I got this. I live super close and I will kick a man to death if he tries to rob me. Also, as stupid as it sounds, Sasuke got me a taser." Naruto pulled it out of his pocket as proof. "The fact he was not confident in my kick skills offends me, but I understand that he's worried." Shikamaru shook his head. "But there's not much else I can do right now-Me and Sasuke are hella broke from moving. We got one car and he on his morning-shift-kill-himself-at-four-am-grind. He works farther away and needs the car more."

"And that prevents you from getting a ride, why?" Shikamaru asked, eyebrow raised. He sighed. "Listen, I know you hate asking for help but really, if you want a ride, just call me. I pick up Choji on the way, anyway."

"Dude, we're next to that shitty casino. It's twack central out there every night-we just don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'll keep it in mind." Naruto said with a neutral smile. He sat down at the breakroom table and pulled a Monster out of the plastic bag next to backpack. "Have you guys tried the red, zero calorie one? Blows my dick right off."

"I really don't wanna know what blows your dick off." Shikamaru said, barely looking up from his phone.

"We all know who blows Naruto's dick off." Choji said as he cut into his burrito, about to scoop the food into his mouth but he squinted his eyes. "it's still frozen."

"Good, that's what you get for talking shit." Naruto said putting up his middle finger in Choji's face.

"Don't talk about a man's burrito like that, that's his pride."

"Yeah, you think I don't know that? I'm a connoisseur of a man's burrito, okay?" They all started laughing, Shikamaru setting his cup of coffee a little too hard, spilling a blurb of it from the top.

"I'm so bored." Naruto muttered, his arms hanging over his register. It had been dead inside the store for the past twenty or so minutes-it was well into the night, past two so the liquor rush had already came and went. Shikamaru looked briefly looked at the clock. "Go ahead and count your till down."

"Oh yes, lunch time!" Naruto chided excitedly, pressing the 'safe drop' button on his register. "What about Choji?"

"Nah, give it about ten." Shikamaru replied. "We've been getting last minute rushes when I've been up here by myself. It's hard for me to print out everything and kick people out. They never listen."

"Aye, aye captain." Naruto said, giving a little salute as he pulled on a fresh pair of latex gloves. He started counting the change in his till, drowning out all the noise around him. He briefly looked up and paused, shaking his head as he continued to watch a man with dark hair head over to the coffee station. He blinked when he came up to Shikamaru, paying for the drink. For a brief moment, he had actually thought it was Sasuke, but they just had similar dark hair. But not even that similar-it wasn't spiked or anything. Naruto blamed it on being tired.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Came an almost too soft voice-he was speaking awfully quiet for a store with music on full volume. It was patronizing in a way-Naruto had to strain and almost had to ask the man to repeat himself. He pointed at himself and the man nodded, slowly, as if the direction he was speaking was obvious.

"Ah-no, sorry. You just-"

"KInda reminded you of someone?"

"Oh-that was rather-"

"Astute, I know. I get told that a lot." He moved off to the side, still holding eye contact with Naruto. The blond wasn't quite certain why he seemed so…interested in their conversation. "You know, you remind me of someone too."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Yeah, ex of mine." And then Naruto realized why he was so interested. The blond laughed.

"If you're going to try and come onto me, I'll have to tell you 'sorry'." He held up his hand and pulled off the glove on top of it. He pointed to the ring on his finger-he and Sasuke weren't married or even engaged for that matter-but this rando didn't need to know that. "I'm married."

"That's okay, I don't have any interest in faggots."

"Whoa, what the fuck-"

"You, get out, don't come back. We don't tolerate homophobia." Shikamaru said in a firm, but authoritative voice.

"You can't just kick me out for stating an opinion."

"If you don't leave I'm calling the police. You've been asked and if you refuse, you're trespassing." He stated calmly. "Insulting employees is harassment; we have three witnesses."

The black haired man nodded slowly, "Whatever." He curtly turned on his heel and left quickly.

"What an asshole." Naruto muttered. He could feel the prickling a rage still setting ablaze the skin on his face and the adrenaline of the comment making him dizzy.

"Don't worry about him." Naruto looked over to see a different man coming up from the side-his hair was red and he had a face tattoo. His mesmerizing green eyes stared into his own blue ones, almost making the blond shiver with their intensity. They stood out even more against the dark circles under his eyes-Naruto couldn't tell if it was smudged make-up or not. And much to add to the irony, he was buying four Red Bulls-so maybe he was just incredibly tired. "He's just mad he couldn't have you." Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You didn't see his weird half-shirt from where you're standing. He was definitely gay too-but some people can't stand the thought of being told 'no'." He reached into the pockets of his black windbreaker, probably for a wallet.

"Still doesn't make what he said okay." Shikamaru replied, bagging up the red head's energy drinks.

"Never said it did." He handed Shikamaru two cards. "It'll be credit."

"Thanks. Insert the chip if you have it."

Naruto finished counting out his money, dropped it all, and pushed past the small swinging door. "I'm going to lunch."

Naruto huffed as he settled himself down in a chair. He didn't know why he was letting that guy's rude comment get to him but he supposed it had been a long time since someone had actually insulted him like that. Most of the people he knew were bleeding liberals and had accepted who and what he was years ago. He rolled his eyes. Sometimes his skin just wasn't thick enough.

He heated up the food he brought from home and picked at it, watching YouTube videos on his phone. He sat there, monitoring the clock on his phone until it was time to go back to work when he heard tapping. Turning his head, he looked towards the doorway, waiting to see Choji or Shikamaru messing with him. He saw no one.

"Ah, finally gone crazy." He muttered to himself. He sat back in his chair and when he hit 'play' again on his video, he heard the tapping again. He put his phone on the breakroom table and turned his head towards the large window. During the day time, seeing through the window was no problem, but during night time, it was like a two-way mirror. The person outside could see him but he couldn't see them. He heard their voice muffled because of the glass and they continued to tap. He grabbed the walkie-talkie on the table and radio-ed out. "Uhh, guys, there's someone outside the breakroom window."

No response. Naruto had a wash of realization and he rolled his eyes. It was probably Choji trying to freak him out. He walked over to the window and grabbed the cover, pulling it up so he could flip off Choji.

No one was there.

He took a few steps back, the blind still in his hand so he could stare out into the small area. He turned on his heel and headed out onto the sales floor, watching as Choji came back in through the front door. "What the fuck, man? I thought we called off the pranks."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied with a small glint of challenge in his eyes. "You're the one who made me go out there for nothing."

"Oh, very funny." Naruto put his hands on his hips. "I know you were the one knocking on the window. You know I can't see through the blinds and you ran away when I lifted them up."

"Choji has been inside the entire time you were on lunch." Shikamaru was giving him an incredibly skeptical look. "Are you sure you heard tapping?"

Naruto felt his heart beat pick up. He pushed past Choji and went around the front of the building to where the window was. It was easy enough to access so it wasn't exactly hard for some random weirdo to come by, see him, and start fucking with him if they could.

He looked for footprints, some kind of proof someone had been standing around, tapping and he didn't see anything. To be fair, it was also really dark outside. Naruto felt the skin on his neck start to prickle up, becoming covered in goose bumps-his arms too. That meant someone could have just been watching him the entire time he was on lunch-doing God knows what. A shiver racked up his spine thinking about some anonymous person watching him through the window. He could be jacking off for all Naruto knew. He wrapped his arms around himself, feeling the chill of October wrap around him-he needed to get back to work anyway.

When he walked through the doors of the store, Shikamaru and Choji were staring at him, expectantly. "And?"

"I didn't see anyone."

"If there was someone there, it was probably someone who lives in their car in the alley next to the store. They probably saw you and were trying to freak you out." Shikamaru said with a shrug. "We'll call the cops if something happens when I'm on lunch."

"Yeah, okay."

Naruto logged back onto his till and Shikamaru went to lunch. Nothing happened. The regulars came in, got their coffee, complained about Monday morning, left. Naruto watched and waited for something else to happen, but there seemed to be no signs of anything else. Sure, isolated strange incidences happened all the time-most people did not return because they got a sharp tongue from one of the night crew members.

Having to basically brush off that weird feeling, Naruto clocked out so he could head home. He stretched as he walked through the front doors, passing by the gas pumps and the bus stop right outside his work. He kept his head down so he wouldn't make eye contact and encourage any of the weirdos on the street to talk to him. It would be about twenty minutes before he could throw himself into his bed and sleep.

Naruto looked over his shoulder-he had forgot his headphones and was too lazy to turn around and get them when he left the house-so he could hear everything. For a brief moment, someone was walking behind him, but stopped at the crosswalk so they could cross the street. He let out an annoyed breath-he was really letting that window thing get to him. He'd gotten his ass grabbed, almost been in a fight, had a flurry of horrible and strange things said to him, but he was going to be all weird about-someone tapping on a window.

When he told Sasuke about it-he would definitely laugh but then he'd get all weird about how he doesn't want Naruto to work there. They fought about it more than he liked to admit, but there wasn't much he could do right now. They were just trying to save up as much money as possible, so they could do better in the coming months.

Naruto rubbed his eyes and face with the sleeves of his hoodie before slamming his hand into the crosswalk button. He was minutes away from home now. The wind was starting to pick up, showering him in yellow-orange leaves, his hood falling when a particularly strong gust blow into him. Trees were swaying and bending, clouds starting to move in rapidly, showing it was going to rain soon. Naruto crossed the street, shoving his hands into his pockets and realizing just how silent things were right now. Aside from the wind, there were cars, and nothing else. He had passed a Dairy Queen, seeing no lights on inside or around the complex-the street lamp was also out. So not only was it eerily quiet, it was also dark for on the stretch of sidewalk. He shuddered. Next time he needed to remember his headphones, so he could be distracted by his music. He hadn't realized just how creepy it was at six in the morning.

He walked through the apartment buildings on a small winding path that lead to the back of the complex. His apartment was in the very back on the top floor-which had been such a pain in the ass to get everything up to. He and Sasuke had been sore for days after they moved all of Sasuke's incredibly heavy shit.

A black cat darted past him as he got closer to the building-he'd seen it before, up at the top of his stairs because his neighbors left out their garbage. He wondered if Sasuke would be mad if he befriended it…

He quickly headed up the stairs, before doing anything stupid. Naruto pulled the backpack off his shoulders and rummaged around in the front of it-feeling the ache return to his feet as he stopped walking. The first thing he was gunna do with his next check was buy a new pair of shoes. Pulling out his keys, he opened the door-overwhelmed the by the smell of old coffee and how dark it was with the blackout curtains. He stepped inside, clicking the lock behind him. Naruto sighed, slinging his backpack to the ground, and setting his keys on one of the hooks.

There were still boxes everywhere and in the dark, Naruto almost tripped over one Sasuke had left next to the couch. He scowled but would berate the man when he got back from work. He headed into his room, throwing himself down on the bed. He snuggled over to Sasuke's normal side of the bed, smelling the lingering of the Uchiha's cologne and shampoo on his pillow. Working opposite shifts was so hard sometimes-all he wanted was to be able to spend the day with Sasuke after work-but he'd gotten a promotion so now Sasuke was a floor manager and no longer work graves with him. Naruto pouted-he couldn't really complain either because now Sasuke was making three extra bucks an hour.

Naruto's eyes started to droop, so he rolled onto his other side, letting go of Sasuke's pillow. He still needed to brush his teeth and strip before he could go to sleep. When he was all finished with his mission in the bathroom, he noticed for the first time that Sasuke had left the window open in their room-giving it a light chill now that he wasn't wearing his long sleeve shirt. The blinds too were slightly open and he moved over to them, pulling them shut.

He wondered if anyone had seen him strip-he didn't think so because he was on the second floor, but maybe one of his neighbors got a bit of a show. He flopped down on the bed again, pulling up the blanket to his chin and closing his eyes. Sasuke would be home in a few hours and when the Uchiha was back-Naruto smiled to himself.  
-


	2. Chapter 2

**Next chapter is when things will actually start to pick up, I'm pretty sure it'll be based all in the past and be completely Naruto centric. SO GET READY Y'ALL IT'S NOT GUNNA BE CUTESY SASUKE/NARUTO CUTE PIE RELATIONSHIP TIME. IT'S GUNNA GET REAL AF**

It had been a long time…

Itachi had told himself that he was going to leave that chapter of his life behind him.

But those bleary, black eyes of his brother had just-

He stared down his nose at the man tied to the chair. He looked so normal-which sent alarm bells ringing in Itachi's head. It had only taken mere moments and a calm had spread through Sai-like he didn't even know what fear was. No one should have been this calm in this situation-his own heart threatened to burst through his ribs and was loud enough to cover the sound of rain outside of the warehouse. Sai could be faking-to catch Itachi off guard. People were all like minded when it came to survival-they would beg, plead, or fight. Sure, Sai was laughing at his 'theories'-he even mocked the tapes Itachi had set up for him to watch.

"You're full of shit." He was smiling at Itachi with bleached, white teeth. He could tell they were bleached from the strips towards the tops of his gums. His eyes held no mirth, no worries, nothing. Itachi shrugged, reaching into the bag next to him. He grabbed a thin bladed knife, knowing it was sharp enough to sheer through leather, and would make quick work of Sai's skin and muscles. "You're taking this way too far."

"The only one who took it to far," Itachi paused as he rested the knife against the top button of his shirt, letting the blade slip through the little fibers holding the button in place, "was you. I wouldn't be doing this if you didn't force my hand."

"No one is forcing you to do anything." Sai's voice didn't quiver, shake, or even bend with a different pitch. He was still unafraid. "You're an officer of the law, are you not? Vigilantism is frowned upon by your people, _your law_."

"My law is what I make it." Itachi finished cutting through the buttons and let the blade glide up Sai's chest-he flicked his wrist and a small cut blossomed against the creamy white skin. "Besides, if you think I'm a vigilante, then you're admitting you've done something that encouraged me to take my own justice…Right?"

It was the first reaction-that seemed genuine, at least-Itachi had seen on Sai's face. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance at the Uchiha. Itachi smirked, in an almost vindicated, satisfied way.

"Don't play mind games with people smarter than you."

Itachi turned briefly, reaching into the duffel bag he brought. He pulled out a duraflame log as well as some solid, real logs. Sai was glancing at the yellow and black, paper covered log. He was silent, watching as Itachi slipped into a darkened corner.

He threw the logs into a small corner, taking his lighter out of his pocket and setting the duraflame log's paper on fire before settling it on top. "What's that for? Smoke inhalation wasn't the cause of death."

More and more, Sai incriminated himself. It was the natural reaction, of course-killers like the copies of their murders to be perfect, to the last detail. "I'm just preparing." Itachi brushed off his outburst-he'd had to wait several minutes before a good few coals would form out of those logs.

"Tell me something," Sai said, suddenly, there was a brief shake in his voice-if Itachi wasn't so sure, he would say it was a flash of excitement. "It's actually you, right? You're the Sandman, aren't you?"

"The Sandman," Itachi echoed in an unimpressed voice. "killed my brother's fiancé. Why would I do something to hurt my own family?"

"Jealousy." Sai spat, a strange and wild wickedness coming over his face. "He was a rather beautiful man-Naruto, I mean. I've never met someone who had eyes the color of the sea before."

Itachi was silent-before cracking to laugh. "Not my type."

"Oh," Sai said in a wistful kind of way. "I guess Sasuke is more your type."

"What did you say?" Itachi felt his back tense up as a nauseated feeling bubbled up in his esophagus. "Want to try and say it again?"

"It makes a lot of sense." Sai muttered. "The obsession, the baseless accusations-you need someone, don't you, to cover your sickness. You couldn't have your own brother-so why not cripple him, hurt him so dearly he must rely on you to make things right, but it was really you, wasn't it? You couldn't stand hi-" Itachi's fingers wrapped around the pale column of Sai's throat, squeezing and squeezing. It was meant to be a warning, but Itachi felt ropes of his control fraying as he watched the man choke; saliva dripped from the sides of his mouth. His fingers found more purchase the harder he squeezed and then he suddenly let go-the moment when Sai's eyes started to bulge and his face was burning red from the lack of oxygen. His head fell forward as he coughed.

Itachi's eyes narrowed as he stared down at Sai-now was not the time for him to start losing control of himself. He took a steadying breath and walked back over the fire in the corner.

He had killed people before.

It was part of his job-an unfortunate part, to be sure, but it had happened.

But this…

Itachi's hands clenched at his sides-he wouldn't go back on his words to Sasuke, but there was a nagging voice in his head, _"Ah, sure. We can arrange that for you-but, what will you give me in exchange?"_ Itachi could picture that smile attached to those words-it wasn't a sweet smile, but one of malicious glee, punctuated by the black metal of his piercings.

There would be no other way for this to be arranged without them-without him.

"I suppose I should be grateful." Itachi muttered to himself. He felt his fingers tremble as he stood over the fire-he placed it in that corner because of the vent located right above it. This location had been given to him-promised to be quiet-and up for demolition in two days' time. There wouldn't be anything left when Itachi was over, but of course _he_ knew that-but they had given him a cleaner anyway.

Kisame would show up in approximately five hours.

Naruto died over the span of a few days-the blond was a fighter to the end, which did not surprise Itachi. But, Itachi could not waste that much time on Sai-he had five hours-less now-to inflict the same torture and he hoped Sai wouldn't succumb to the shock first.

He stared into the logs, which crackled and started to split from the heat. He had a lot planned for them in these few hours.

Naruto woke suddenly when the weight in the bed next to him shifted. He opened his eyes and saw the back of Sasuke's head. He wondered when his lover had slipped into the bedroom-he slept hard after work so Sasuke could have realistically came in at any time, but from the way Sasuke kept making small, 'getting comfortable' movements, it must have just happened. Reaching out for Sasuke, the Uchiha turned as soon as he felt requesting fingers on his back. They shifted to get closer together. Naruto let Sasuke pull in close; he felt a hotness spread through his gut when Sasuke gave him a chaste kiss on the neck, moving to then cuddle the column of his throat.

"What time is it?"

"Like five. You have plenty of time."

Naruto hummed a reply, gently tracing his fingers up and down Sasuke's strong back. "You're not doing homework?"

"Finished it during my other classes." Sasuke replied softly. He pulled the blanket up a little higher around his face. "I thought I deserved a nap."

"Is sleep the only thing you wanna do?" Naruto asked in a nonchalant tone. He couldn't hide his foxy smirk from Sasuke and the Uchiha chuckled breathily.

"Is that all you think about?"

"How could I not? You're just too damn gorgeous." Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck and pulled him in for a really passionate kiss.  
-

Sasuke watched as Naruto got out of bed-he licked his lips as he watched the curve of Naruto's spine and how it dipped into the black dickies he slid into. "I wish you didn't have to work." The blond shrugged.

"I mean, neither do I, but how will we afford such a luxurious apartment?" Naruto turned, smiling at the man draped over their plethora of pillows and blankets-a makeshift nest for Sasuke to rest in.

The Uchiha shrugged his shoulders, "Prostitution?"

"Ah yes, the fabled plan b." Naruto pulled on his blue polo shirt and straightened out the collar. "Shit, at my job, even if you got a ring on it, people will ask you for everything like you actually are one."

"The public is literally the worst."

" _The worst._ " Naruto echoed in agreement. "Like last night, this dude _, who soooooo gay_ , got all homophobic and weird when I was like 'yah, my boyfriend-'"

"is totally an MMA fighter and will beat the shit outta you." Naruto huffed with laughter when Sasuke finished his sentence.

"No."

"Yes, just tell everyone that."

"Oh, just tell everyone that so I seem weak, right?"

"Naruto, you've been a scrapper since kindergarten." The blond was nodding in agreement. "There's always that weird power dynamic with gay people because some people can't get it into their head that we can both be the guy…all the time."

"You're my guy." Naruto made a kissy face at Sasuke, and in turn Sasuke replied:

"And you're mine." Catching the kiss with his own kissy face. "Let me take you to work."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you gotta be to class at six."

"Dude, it's not even nine yet, I got this. I took a post-sex nap and everything."

Naruto laughed, rolling his eyes. "I have to keep this insane body in good shape somehow."

"Do you run to work every day?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"Ya never quite know what might happen. One day, I might just have to."

"Which," Sasuke began, slinging into an upright position, "is exactly why I would prefer to take you on days I don't work and just have school."

"Babe,"

"Don't you even start with that 'babe' shit," Sasuke looked serious but the blond just sighed.

"Sasuke, don't worry about it. I've been doing this for months, it's totally fine. Have I ever given you doubts that I wouldn't be able to handle myself?"

"Okay, but, people get mugged all the time. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'll be fine!" Naruto walked over to the Uchiha and put both his hands on his shoulders. "Even if they did mug me, they won't get any money, you know I'm broke as hell. I'll help them mug me cause hey, maybe I'll find some cash."

Sasuke smacked the blond with a pillow, "I worry because I love you. This isn't always a joke to me. It makes me feel shitty that I can't be what you need."

"Dude, we just moved into an apartment. When taxes come, we can pool them together and get a shitty car for me to take to and from work. It'll be fine. That's only another couple months away."

Naruto huffed and jumped onto the bed next to Sasuke, just barely missing the Uchiha. He pulled him close and huddled him underneath his body. "We just gotta deal with it for now, I'm fine. I have been for months. Nothing's gunna happen-I am more than capable of punching a crackhead in the face."

"I know."

The blond snuggled Sasuke a little harder, kissing the side of his hair, breathing deeply for just a second. Naruto got up, stretching. "Okay, I gotta go, for real this time."

Sasuke sighed. "I love you," Naruto leaned over the bed one last time and gave Sasuke a soft kiss.

"I'll see you when you get back from work." Naruto replied with a wink.

Naruto breathed into his hands before slipping them into his pockets. He really needed to invest in a nice pair of gloves-it was becoming the part of the year where everything was misty and rainy during the evening-water was wisping around with the promises of ice. Winter was just around the corner.

He headed into the inner path of the apartment, so he could avoid the parking lots. Naruto was thinking about filing a notice with the landlord. It was incredibly dark around the apartment, there were lamps and some people had their lights on, but it was too sparse. There were stretches on the sidewalk where he couldn't see the concrete very well, at all. Not to mention if anyone else was around. Naruto quieted that notion in his head.

Sure, sometimes when he looked up and there was a lone person sitting on their porch smoking and all he could see was the cherry of their cigarette, he would get a little shaken. But he didn't need to be sketched out by the prospect of being attacked around his apartments. It was all probability, and he just hoped all the odds would continue to be on his side.

He slipped through an opening between the apartment's sign and a fence in the front of the complex and meandered up a small hill to the sidewalk. He walked behind a high school-which at nine at night probably shouldn't have cars in the parking lot, but he supposed teens needed a secluded place to bump uglies like everyone else.

The blond slammed his hand into the button for the cross walk-it was nearly late enough for there to be no road noise so the clanging of the metal reverberated for a moment with nothing else to eclipse the noise. It was strangely lonely underneath the street lights, in the mist, in the pitch of the evening. Not even the moon was full in the sky and what could be seen of it was covered by the thick, gray rain clouds which promised a downpour in the next hour. Naruto pulled the collar of his jacket up a little higher, feeling the push of icy wind down his neck.

From across the street, he could see someone walking down the sidewalk. Somethings caught his attention briefly-namely the person was wearing a mask that appeared to have a skull on the front of the ski mask. "Jesus Christ," Naruto muttered to himself, hoping the light would change after the man had passed that particular section of the cross walk. It wasn't as though he was afraid, but there was no definite code for how people were going to act.

The light changed and the man was still walking down the road-which meant if Naruto crossed now, the man would be following him. Taking in a deep breath and headed across the street, keeping a fast pace just in case the man would try and catch up to him. He turned down his music so that, on the off chance it would happen, if the man started to run after him, Naruto would be able to hear it. He wouldn't be caught off-guard.

"Hey," He heard the man's voice, muffled but still close enough for him to make out what he was saying. Naruto, knowing better than to engage this person, ignored him, deciding to walk faster. Maybe this would be the day he would have to run. He heard the increasing sound of footsteps, and against his better judgement, looked behind him. Not only was this man now running to catch up with him, he was reaching into his bag.

"Oh, what the fuck" Naruto muttered to himself. He was in disbelief that this man was actually going to try something. He made sure he was stopped in front of a well-lit gas station, just in case something decided to pop off. He needed to be in shouting distance of someone.

"Do you wanna see something?" Naruto's eyes fluttered open as he continued to walk, the man basically running next to him.

"No, I'm good." He replied, not returning any form of eye contact.

"Do you have a cigarette I can buy?"

"I don't smoke." Naruto was about to reach the crosswalk which would take him over the overpass-he was so close to work. Sasuke totally jinxed him.

"Oh, come on, see I have like eight bucks." He pulled what looked like a couple dollars from his pockets as to assuage Naruto of something different but the blond decided this was where he drew the line.

"Dude, I don't smoke and if you have so much money, go buy yourself a pack."

"You don't have to be so rude."

"And you can fuck off." Naruto replied, widen his eyes and taking a threatening step forward. The guy stopped walking and turned to head in the opposite direct. "Fucking crackheads." The blond shook his head.

"And that's why I offer you rides," Shikamaru replied to the blond. Naruto was counting his till down, explaining the crazy thing that happened to him on his way to work. The brunet shook his head. "I don't see why you're so hard headed about it. I mean, I get you and Sasuke are tight on cash, but you have great friends."

"Great friends," Choji agreed as he slipped his till into the drawer and logged out.

"Y'all are taking this too serious. We get harassed by crackheads all night."

"Okay but we're in a group, and we have each other's backs."

"I am not afraid of them," Naruto said, a skeptical eyebrow raised. He paused when he saw a familiar head pass through the automatic doors of the store. THAT FUCKING RUDE GUY FROM THE PREVIOUS NIGHT WAS BACK. Before Naruto could even remind Shikamaru, the brunet was pointing towards the door.

"Nope, you're not allowed in here."

The guy walked up to the counter, leaning over to where Naruto was currently counting. "At least let me apologize for my behavior."

"Why should I accept any apology from some dude who acts all closeted when it conveniences them?" Naruto asked, dropping a stack of ones into his till.

"Fair enough, but I am sorry. I don't know what I was thinking when I said what I did, but it wasn't right." He made a lame hand gesture and started to walk out.

Naruto and Shikamaru made brief eye contact, "it's up to you."

"Ugh, you're the supervisor." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Alright, fine." The black-haired man stopped right before the doorway. "You're forgiven. Just don't make me regret this. Also, you're an asshole."

"I'll try not to be next time." He said with a strangely satisfied smile.

"You're awfully nice." Naruto looked over at Shikarmaru's till, where that same red headed guy from the other night was back.

"There no point in holding grudges." The blond shrugged. "You two don't know each other, right?"

"What?" The red head lifted an invisible eyebrow and scoffed. "As if I would hang out with a guy who wears a weird half-shift, two days in a row."

"Probably a uniform." Shikamaru observed. Both Naruto and the red head gave an incredulous look. "What? He could be a stripper or work at a night club."

"I don't know what kinds of night clubs you've been going to, dude, but I have never seen a bouncer or like a DJ wear something like that."

"Apparently you need to get out more." The red head's card made the reader 'beep' and he removed it. "I'm Gaara, by the way. I'll probably be here the same time every day, so get used to seeing me."

He exited quietly and Shikamaru turned towards the blond as he was slipping his till into the drawer. "Am I really going to have to deal with two different guys hitting on you for an awkward five to ten minutes a day?"

"You're gay-dar is so off. Mr. Gaara is definitely not gay."

"No one notices a weird half-shirt twice in a row like that, unless he was looking for it."

"I mean, I noticed his weird half-shirt because I was judging, but you know to each his own."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Just go to lunch."

Naruto saluted Shikamaru and happily bounded to the back where Sasuke's delicious hand-packed lunch was waiting for him.


	3. Chapter 3

**TRIGGER WARNING NOW: elements of rape in this chapter(not explicit), and also extreme elements of violence. You have been warned.  
** ====

"You have to work grave tonight?" Naruto asked from the side of the bed. It was about six in the evening, and Sasuke had to be at work at seven.

"Yeah, the night manager called out with some kind of family emergency and they need me to come in until the morning manager can get there."

"How the hell are you gunna go to school in the morning?"

"I'll be getting off at like three or so-I can just squeeze in a nap and figure it out. They wouldn't ask me to do this unless they were desperate."

Naruto nodded his head, mulling it over. "It still sucks."

"Oh, you're telling me. I haven't even worked a mid-shift in like two years. I'm gunna need at least seven cups of coffee to keep up. But, hey, I get off at three so I could pick you up from work in the morning."

"Pft, don't even worry about me. I gotta work off the take-out we get somehow. Not like we can afford a gym membership."

"Or use the apartments' equipment-the manager is never there."

"Never there." Naruto echoed, with a nod. "I wonder what it's like to make 60k a year and never have to deal with your tenants."

"Got into the wrong business." Sasuke agreed. He walked back over to the side of the bed. "Go back to sleep," He leaned over and gave the blond a kiss. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

At about eight, Naruto caved and called Shikamaru for a ride to work. He had looked out the window briefly and it had begun to dump rain in spectacular fashion. Not like Naruto wasn't used to the rain, but not having to walk to work in it, would be the rather favorable experience.

And that meant Naruto-as he smiled cheekily to himself-could go back to sleep for another hour and change. The blond happily pulled the covers back over his head, very satisfied with the turn of events.

When his alarm went off for him to put on his work clothes and actually get ready-the blond felt groggy. He cursed. Wasn't sleep supposed to be the reason he felt good? He wanted to lay in bed for another few minutes but knew he would just end up dozing off again. He reluctantly got up from the bed, shivering slightly at the cool feeling of the apartment.

The night was strangely quiet. It wasn't a weekend or anything, but it just seemed extra still. Not that anyone seemed to mind at work. Naruto was able to get through task after task without being really bothered. It just made the time slip by so slowly. He blinked-once, twice, and again, just staring at the door. He'd been stuck at register while Shikamaru made copies of the gas reports for morning and Choji finished up re-stocking the beer cooler.

"Sorry that took so long," Shikamaru sighed as he slipped the pieces of paper into a folder on the counter. He shook his head. "No one replaced the stupid ink cartridge, idiots."

"It's cool, man." Naruto replied, still feeling spacey and tired. He had been groggy the whole shift, which added even more to the dragging feeling.

Both of them jumped slightly when the phone rang. Shikamaru leaned over and answered it promptly. Choji's face was red as he emerged from the back, pulling off the pair of leather gloves they kept around so people's hands wouldn't get too cold.

"What the fuck does mid even do?" Choji shot off. "Like serious, they didn't put away Harbor or our fucking Pepsi delivery. It's still a nightmare in there."

"Yeah, and we got shit for space right now." Naruto replied.

"True nightmare," Choji muttered. Naruto pressed safe-drop so he could deposit the few hundreds he had in his till from an earlier trucker-he'd finished pumping and used everything. He was depositing money into the safe, listening to Choji continue to complain about all the Gatorade in the back and how there was nowhere to put anything.

"Naruto," the blond stopped what he was doing and looked up at Shikamaru-his face had gotten pale. He set the phone down and took a small breath. "Sasuke's been in accident."

"WHAT?"

"That was his boss. They said they couldn't reach you by your personal phone, so they called the store." Naruto dropped the money he was putting in the safe back into his till and ran to the breakroom. He shuffled through his things and grabbed his phone, seeing four missed calls from an unknown number. He didn't have any texts or calls from Sasuke.

His stomach churned. His hands began to sweat and shake with the horror of it. Scrolling through his contacts, he tried to call Sasuke's brother-Itachi. He would have probably been the first person they called, but Itachi didn't pick up the phone. He frantically called him three more times before throwing his phone across the table. Letting out a shaky breath, he paused for a moment, pacing the floor. What would he do now? He didn't know where Sasuke was-and probably wouldn't be able to call him if he was unconscious or…

 _Worse._

Shikarmaru appeared in the doorway of the breakroom, leaning slightly against the doorframe. "Hey, listen. Go home." He said it softly and the blond didn't look over to him. "I already talked to Choji and we'll be fine here without you for the rest of the night."

"Fuck." Naruto muttered to himself. He carded a hand through his hair and looked back at his abandoned phone. "Itachi isn't answering."

"He might already be there. They couldn't give me any specifics over the phone-just go home, try to call Sasuke or maybe his parents and try to figure out what's going on. I wouldn't force you to stay here with his hanging over your head."

Naruto took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry."

"Not your fault." Shikamaru replied quickly.

Naruto packed up his stuff and clocked out. He headed back towards the front of the store, not even giving a goodbye before walking out the door. He muttered to himself as he, again, tried to call Itachi. Itachi was a notorious night owl and he knew for a fact the man always had his phone on full volume-he was a police officer and they could need him at the drop of a hat.

But, of course, now, while there was an emergency, did Itachi not answer a single phone call.

"Fuck you too, dude." He said, sliding his phone into his pocket. He thought about calling Sasuke's parents but wondered if they would even pick up the phone if he called. They still had a house phone and he didn't know they personal cell numbers because he never needed to.

He was basically jogging down the road, frantic to get home as soon as he could.

Naruto pulled his phone out again-he tried calling the unknown number, but it just rang into infinity. He couldn't even leave a message, which meant Sasuke's coworkers couldn't even tell Naruto where Sasuke was. He took a shallow breath-his chest starting to ache. He wasn't sure, but he felt like he was going to throw up. Sweat started to bead up on his forehead and for the first time, in all of his panic, Naruto noticed there was a car following him.

He slowed to a near stop and the car pulled into a vacant parking lot next to him-not even close enough to be near a street lamp. "Oh, just what I need." Naruto muttered.

He re-dialed Itachi's number, taking peeks over his shoulders every so often to make sure no one was following him. The last thing he needed was someone to find out where he lived. He pulled up his hood a little more around his face-it was still dumping, and the roads were slick with run-off. He could hear the rain rushing into the storm drains but no footsteps behind him.

"Pick up your phone, you piece of shit!" Naruto growled into the receiver. The car had started moving again, pulling up to the red light at the section Naruto was about to cross. The light was still red and Naruto was about to run across the road, when he felt something quickly impact him from the side. His phone shot out of his hand and as soon as he realized he was lying on the ground, someone standing over him. He could feel a coldness sinking into him-his vision was going white at the edges and little dots danced in his eyes.  
-

Naruto woke with a searing pain in his temple and an even worse one on his left side. He coughed, once and the air coming back into his lungs stung. His head was woozy, he could barely keep focused on where he was. There were two voices speaking faintly in the distance-but it seemed like how it was on TV, he could hear everything they were saying, but nothing was making its way through.

His eyes rolled in his head and he laid his head back down against whatever he was laying on. It was damp, cold. The lower half of his body was throbbing, so badly. When he shifted slightly, he felt something wet between his legs-his eyes rolled again, nausea filling up his stomach. He turned his head to the side and retched.

When he re-opened his eyes, there was a man standing above him. Face completely blank-he just stared at Naruto. Dark eyes openly showing…Nothing at all. The blond erupted into goose bumps, all of his senses telling him something was, very, very wrong. "Why are you here?"

There was no response, and the man turned away from Naruto-then. The blond felt the returning feeling from earlier. Panic. There was a base sickness that crept even more into his stomach. His hands were shaking, but because they were locked down to this table, he couldn't even move them. He let out a worried whimper, trying to close his eyes and block this out.

This was a nightmare.

That car had hit him and he was in shock-this wasn't real.

"Why are you doing this?" His breath had picked up, to almost hyperventilation levels. The man paused for a moment, bringing something over to the side of the table and setting it down. Naruto could feel the heat from it on the side of his face-he couldn't turn his head to look at it, however.

"Don't take this personally." The man said casually. "I just can't take it anymore-hope you understand."

"Hope I understand?" Naruto echoed-his eyes had begun to fill with tears. Even through the blurred vision of his tears, Naruto could see the hot embers falling off a piece of wood being held in front of his face. The embers casually dropped and sparkled down, around his face and he had to close his eyes to avoid them.

"That won't do." The man said and before Naruto knew it, the wood was being shoved into his left eye, burning as every inch penetrated his skin and through the viscous bulb of his eye. Naruto couldn't scream loud enough as the pain ricocheted through his body, tearing up his back and causing him to vomit. He shook against his binding-still screaming. He couldn't move, he couldn't make enough noise. And the man next to him just watched-saying nothing. He just continued, unwavering.

The second one was placed in his right eye-the blond, however, had made the mistake this time of keeping his eye open. It was mostly out of shock, but when he felt his eyeball straight up burst from the stabbing and all the watery ooze leak onto his face, his entire world spun. He vomited again, not even being able to scream as his body rocked, and rocked. It felt like he was convulsing-his head pitifully smacked against the surface underneath him.

Shikamaru stared, as Sasuke walked up to the register. He looked just fine-no sign of injury at all. Choji was walking by with a box of assorted donuts for the display in the front; he dropped the box as the Uchiha walked by him. Sasuke placed an extra large coffee down and just stared back at Shikamaru. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Wh-I mean," Shikamaru was stuttering over his words and Sasuke tossed him two dollars for the coffee.

"Where's Naruto, anyway? He said he didn't want a ride home, but I got enough of a nap, so he can shove it."

"You're not injured." Shikamaru's inquiry also doubled as an observation.

"Yeah?"

"But-"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, bringing the coffee up to his lips. "Why would I be injured?"

Shikamaru just stared, dumbfounded for another few seconds before he finally could fully meet Sasuke's gaze. "We got a call last night-guy said he was from your work and that you'd been in an accident. Naruto left around three something to go back to your apartment."

Sasuke felt like he swallowed a bundle of hot rocks. "Naruto isn't at our apartment." He said each word slowly-deliberately. "I got home around four-and he wasn't there." Shikamaru just stared at Sasuke even more, "Where the fuck is Naruto, Shikamaru?"  
-

Itachi's constant companion was vodka.

The switch from Vice to Homicide hadn't been as smooth as Itachi had expected. Rolling over on his side, he felt his stomach slosh. He had pushed it last night after waking from a particularly bad nightmare-one from his past. He took a deep breath, blinking-blinking some more and feeling like the world was spinning around him. He heard his phone spring to life, bringing Itachi back to his reality.

"What?" He barked into the phone-his head started pounding.

" _Don't fucking 'what' me!"_ Itachi stared up at the ceiling.

"And what crawled up your fucking ass this morning, brother?"

" _ARE YOU SERIOUS?"_ The older Uchiha rolled to his side and finally got out of his bed, knocking the vodka bottle over as he walked past it. " _I've called you fifty fucking times!"_ Itachi pulled the phone away from his face and he had forty seven missed calls from Sasuke and about ten from Naruto.

"You gunna tell me why or are you gunna just keep yelling at me?"

" _MAYBE YOU SHOULD ANSWER YOUR FUCKING PHONE WHEN I CALL YOU!"_

"If this is gunna be the way you fucking announce your engagement to me, I'm going to literally burn the church down at your wedding"

" _Engagement? What the fuck are you talking about?_ " Itachi walked to his kitchen and grabbed a cold bottle of water from the fridge.

"Well, Naruto called me ten times, too. So…" There was a long pause.

" _Do you really think I would call THAT much for an engagement? Are you so off your ass that you can't see a fucking emergency-god, you're su-"_

"Don't finish that sentence." Itachi's voice held a lot of hostility. "You tell me, now, what is going on. I'm not a goddamn mind-reader. Did something happen to dad?"

" _No,"_ Itachi put down the water bottle. _"Naruto is fucking missing."_

"Missing?" Itachi looked back at his phone and looked at just when the last call had come from Naruto. It was about three thirty in the morning. He had several voicemails. "Are you at your apartment? I'll be over in forty."

" _Okay."_ Without the exasperation and anger, Sasuke's voice was breaking over the line. Itachi's heart felt a pulse of pain-Sasuke was one of the only people he felt empathy for; he hurt, Itachi hurt.

Itachi put his phone down on the counter, taking a steadying breath. This was not how he wanted to spend his day off-it was bad enough he could have to come into work at a moment's notice, but now there was this issue. He shook his head.

Heading back towards the bathroom, Itachi started to strip. He would clean up everything later, for now he needed to get the scent of alcohol out of his skin. He turned the water on cold, to help him wake up even faster-sober him up even more. He also needed this time to really think-Naruto hadn't been missing yet for twenty-four hours, Sasuke couldn't go to the police yet.

They would just tell him not enough time had passed-which was likely why Sasuke had called him in the first place. The police couldn't do anything quite yet; Naruto wasn't a child. Itachi turned off the water, his skin red and numb as he squeezed the excess moisture out of his hair.

He was going to have to prepare Sasuke for this…

Itachi didn't even have to knock when he got to Sasuke's apartment. His brother was sitting on the couch next to the door, phone against his hear. The door wasn't even locked. Itachi took a passing glance around the room and saw another man standing in the corner, looking tired-bored even. Sasuke, however, was shaking softly. His body was probably on overdrive and the adrenaline kept hitting him in waves-anxiety was a true bitch.

Sasuke stood up as soon as Itachi closed the door behind him. While he started to unbutton his jacket, Sasuke started to fire off, "Took you long enough to get here."

"You should be so lucky that I even showed up. Today's my day off and yet, I still get called in for police work." Itachi placed his jacket onto one of the hooks by the front door. He crossed his arms, staring at Sasuke's face. "So, you gunna tell me everything?"

And Sasuke did-and the other man, Shikamaru, as he learned, filled in a bit of the gaps. The phone call, Naruto leaving, Sasuke's arrival, and then the realization Naruto was gone. Itachi was stone-faced and quiet as he listened, trying to take in every detail so that the investigation would go smoothly for him. But of course, this was going to be the difficult part-Itachi knew, where the questions asked were going to become biting.

"Have either of you been sleeping with someone else?" Sasuke was silent for a moment-blinking, staring at Itachi's face as if he had sprouted a second head.

" _What?"_

"It's a legitimate question, Sasuke." Itachi countered before his brother could enter a tirade.

"No, we haven't been sleeping with anyone else."

"Are you sure?" Itachi knew the look he was giving Sasuke wasn't one of reassurance-probably a bit too condescending for the younger's taste because his face started to blossom red, anger filing up his expression.

"Are you assuming I don't know my boyfriend? The man I've been with for almost five fucking years?" Sasuke slammed his hands down at his sides, balling them into fists. Itachi thought for a brief moment Sasuke may attempt to strike him.

Itachi put up a single finger, in warning. His expression changed-already aggravated as it was, but now his brother's moods putting him out even farther. "Don't." Itachi hissed, barely louder than a whisper. "I'm doing you the favor-the police will ask you the same questions and worse. Your attitude is not going tot get you anywhere and it will put you on the suspect list until they can prove your alibi, got it?" Itachi moved closer so that he was chest to chest with Sasuke. "Sit down."

"Could this potentially be some kind of stalker?" Shikamaru finally spoke up-obviously trying to deflect some of the tension. The room was already getting too hot.

"Anything is possible." Itachi mused, with a shrug. "The police are going to need phone records, camera footage-perhaps tracking through GPS and Naruto's own phone. If you've checked the area where he should be and he didn't turn up, it is very possible he got abducted or ran away."

"He wouldn't do something like that." Sasuke muttered softly.

Itachi sunk down so he was crouching in front of where Sasuke sat on the couch-he touched his brother's hand in solidarity. "You never really know someone-love or not. Look how many people end up married to serial killers or rapists: some people can hide what's inside better than others."

"He's not sleeping with anyone else." Sasuke said, flatly. Wells of tears were starting to form in his eyes as he looked at the floor, not able to meet Itachi's gaze.

"Are you sleeping with someone else?" Itachi asked, gently.

"As if I have time for an affair," Sasuke said with a weak laugh. "Between work and school? I barely have time to shower every day."

"What about someone stalking you? Maybe someone who's had their eye on you? Has Naruto mentioned anything about someone showing up at his work? Watching him?"

"There's a weird guy who's been coming in a lot lately." Shikamaru said, and Itachi straightened up, putting his heated glance on the other man. "He's always coming in on our shift, I asked the morning crew." Shikamaru leaned against the wall a little more, obviously feeling a little more uncomfortable. "He and Naruto had a spat a few days ago-and ever since then, he comes in around the same time, maybe an hour off some days-only goes over to him."

"If he comes into your work tonight, get his name, if you can. Last name would be even more helpful." Itachi rubbed the space between his eyes. "Go home, for now. We still have nearly eighteen hours before we can even report Naruto missing, so get some rest. He may still show up."

"I'll call you," Sasuke said weakly.

Shikamaru paused before exiting, taking a step back and placing a hand on Sasuke shoulder. "He'll come back, Sasuke."

"Yeah." The younger Uchiha replied, obviously holding back tears. "Thanks." Shikamaru patted him once, awkwardly before closing the door behind him. Itachi was looking down at his brother, heart started to thaw from the saddened look in his eyes.

"I'll find him, Sasuke." He nodded, limply, not even looking at his brother. Itachi sat down next to his brother on the couch, pulling Sasuke into a gentle hug. With all of his anger and passion subdued, Sasuke was exhausted. "It's okay, don't cry." He could feel the warmth of Sasuke's tears soaking into his t-shirt and Itachi closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. These next few days were going to be very difficult.


	4. Chapter 4

Itachi looked back at Sai; he was still passed out from the lack of oxygen. He wasn't quite coming around yet, but Itachi wanted him to be awake for the next step of his plan. The logs had burned nicely into embers and were still just as hot as he needed them to be effective. Itachi wondered if he should try to shake him awake-or maybe smelling salts would be better. He didn't have any on his person-even though it was standard in most first aid kits he had.

"Wow, haven't even gotten to the good part and he's already passed out? What have you been doing?" Itachi froze up when he heard the voice coming from behind him. Kisame smiled, a little too wide to be comfortable. He was mostly cast in shadow, making his dark skin even darker as Kisame walked into the room.

"What are you doing?"

"What?"

"Why are you here?" Itachi said it through grit teeth but Kisame brushed him off.

"Are you getting cold feet with an audience?" Itachi was silent, shaking his head 'no', but he still looked back at Sai hesitantly. "Don't worry, I just needed to see how big he is."

"And you couldn't have called?"

"Some things are better experienced in person."

"Now is not the time to be mucking around."

"Oh? And why's that?" Kisame smiled toothily. "I was the one hired to tear down this building. Everyone involved is on my payroll. Even if there's evidence of anything, no one will say a word." Itachi looked away, turning slightly to stare at Sai's body-which was twitching now, showing he would wake soon. He'd probably heard the noise of them speaking and it started to rouse him. "Besides that, you're gunna kill him. Who cares if he sees my face?"

"Maybe I care."

"Scared he'll find me too handsome to resist and beg me to save him?"

Itachi looked at Kisame, blinking with indifference. "No skin off my nose."

"So cold, as usual." Kisame reached out, pushing a strand of hair away from Itachi's face, brushing it back to cup his cheek. "We've had something special for years, I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Itachi stepped closer, narrowing the gap between them. "Sentimentality doesn't hide your intentions from me." He put an arm around Kisame's neck, "if I do what you want, will you _go away_?"

Kisame burst with a laugh. "I'll swing by again in a few hours, I know you're on a tight schedule."

Itachi watched Kisame's back recede through the darkness, feeling his gut churn with the disgust of his own actions. He closed his eyes for a moment, swallowing hard. Reminding himself, again, that all he was doing, was for Sasuke.

And he wasn't one for leaving things half finished.  
-

MISSING: 28 hours

Fugaku's disdain could be felt from outside the room as Itachi sat down in the chair across from him. With a deep breath in, Fugaku leaned forward, his hands flexing as he tightened his woven fingers. His posture communicated his displeasure with the situation, but Itachi just stared, waiting for his father to speak. "When, exactly, were you going to say something about this?"

"When Sasuke reported him missing."

Mulling that over for a moment, Fugaku straightened up his back. "You made him wait 24-hours before reporting him missing, Itachi." He could feel the heat of his father's gaze and he shrugged. "There were _suspicious circumstances_ , Itachi-this could blow right up in our faces."

"I didn't know that until after the calls," Itachi's calm seemed to be causing Fugaku to come undone.

"But you still made him wait," Fugaku countered.

"Naruto, _very realistically_ , could have shown up at any time." Itachi defended, crossing his arms over his chest. "He's not sick-doesn't need a caretaker, or medication for that matter. He's over 18, that classifies him as a legal adult which means he can go 'missing'," Itachi added air quotes for emphasis. "as long as: he's not committed a crime, has a warrant, or a court date. _And_ \- he's never been detained under the Mental Health Act as a danger to himself or others." Itachi leaned forward, matching his father's agitated posture, "think about it. Sasuke is family-that's the only reason we've been taking this seriously. Had Naruto and Sasuke been anyone else-we would have told Sasuke to calm down and give it more time before Naruto shows up. There's no way we would have taken this as seriously."

Fugaku shook his head, "He should have called me first. But, of course, you would be the first person he'd call. And you'd come running-that's how you've always been."

"He needed help," Itachi countered. "besides that, with how bad his attitude is, I needed to make sure he got his frustrations out on someone. That way, he wouldn't unleash it on the wrong person and make himself a suspect."

"You don't think…" Fugaku trailed off for a moment.

Itachi raised an eyebrow and scoffed, with obvious disbelief. "Regardless of what people see, people will think Sasuke is the murderer."

"That's pretty bold," Fugaku commented.

"What?"

"To assume Naruto got murdered." His father grabbed the coffee cup next to the framed photo of their family. He took a long sip.

"Was that not what you're implying?"

Brushing off the question, Fugaku continued, "What makes you think that?"

Sitting back in his chair, Itachi shot a short breath from his nose, "Well, if Naruto isn't having an affair and he didn't run away of his own accord, as Sasuke so assures, then that means he was kidnapped." Fugaku nodded, following the logical string of Itachi's words. "And, let's be honest with ourselves, Naruto is rough around the edges: uncooperative, hard-headed. If this was a stalker, they could easily kill Naruto for not living up to the mental narrative they made up. Not to mention, if he becomes a handful by any means, it's easier to just dispose of him-so there's no exposure of identity."

"Shit," Fugaku's face didn't shift from its stoic mask at all, but Itachi could tell from the slight exasperation that his father picked up on the gravity of the situation. "He got any enemies? Or anything we're gunna need to know about? Because between you and I, as soon as this gets processed, we can have nothing to do with this case."

"I know that," Itachi said, pressing his hands together and holding them up to his lips, like he was going to say a prayer. "As far as I know, there's been someone who's been coming into his work for the past few days. And I got some CCTV footage of him from Naruto's work-I'll submit it later and take my lashings for it-but, aside from some bizarre fashion choices, he doesn't seem threatening."

"Was he there the night Naruto went missing?"

Itachi took a breath to settle himself, "no."

Fugaku's jaw slackened, and he ran both hands through his hair, " _Itachi!"_ The sound of his name only made him flinch slightly. "What the fuck were you _thinking_?"

"How was I supposed to explain to everyone that I used my badge and position to go into a gas station and watch their CCTV circuit without an official investigation going on?"

Fugaku slammed his hand down on his desk. "You're going to get yourself fired at this rate! Just because I'm the Chief, doesn't mean they won't take your damn badge for this. You think you're so slick ever since you became a Sargent over in Homicide-I know you've been showing up hungover, driving squad cars questionably-"

"This isn't some goddamn after school special." Itachi said in a flat voice-his eyes betrayed him, however, smoldering over with the heat of his anger. "We need to do something, fast. If you want, submit the notice he's gone missing." Itachi tried to remain calm but could feel his fingers shake. "After that, there's nothing we can do. I'd be lucky if they even let me in the field to collect evidence on this case." Fugaku's hands flexed, still folding, knowing Itachi was right. "I'll have to investigate on my ow-"

"No."

" _No_?"

Fugaku raised a quieting hand, "You've already done enough damage on your own. I don't need you to do more: things are bad enough. We have one suspect-who, potentially, doesn't even have weight in this case, and nothing else. And everything you're going to need to make this case successful is in this building. How are you going to track his phone? Huh? Or observe additional footage? Speak with suspects or witnesses?" Itachi rolled his eyes. "Just-go home. I'll handle this for now, and missing persons will take over from here."

Itachi stood up, frowning, but turned to leave the room.

"One more thing," He stopped before passing through the threshold. "Where is Sasuke right now?"  
-

MISSING: 38 hours

Sasuke's agitation was palpable in his apartment, but Itachi did his best to ignore it as he shut the door behind him. After sitting in his own apartment for an entire day with no word, Sasuke became restless and as he said, 'needed a change of scenery', so he barged his way into Itachi's own home. And the effects were more than noticeable. Sasuke sat on his knees, raiding Itachi's cabinets and kitchen drawers-and much to Itachi's dismay, saw that Sasuke had taken it upon himself to dump his vodka stash down the drain.

" _What are you doing_?" Itachi hissed, grabbing for Sasuke's arm and dragging him to his feet. "I let you into my home and this is what I get as thanks?"

"I need you sharp, Itachi." Sasuke retaliated, tossing one of the plastic bottles across the kitchen. "You don't need this shit! What the fuck is going on with you!?"

"Why don't you just mind your own business?" He leaned into Sasuke's face, a hair's width between them. "You're not our mother and I don't appreciate you treating me as a child. I can do whatever I damn well please. Just because you're upset doesn't mean you can start fucking up my apartment."

"Are you so delusional about your addiction that you just think shit like this is normal?"

"I know I'm an alcoholic!" Itachi yelled back in Sasuke's face. "But I still go to work, every day. I'm still alive and I'm managing my own problems, myself."

"This is horrible!" Sasuke screamed, "I can't stand seeing this! Y-you don't even get it! I just lost Naruto and now I'm stuck in your fucking addiction den surrounded by the way you're trying to destroy yourself."

"Then _leave_."

Sasuke looked taken aback. "Are you kicking me out?"

Putting one hand up, in resignation, his agitation mounting by the second. "No, I'll leave then. I don't need this." Itachi turned on his heel, only to be stopped momentarily by Sasuke grabbing onto his arm.

"Where are you going?" Itachi shook off his brother's hand, grabbing his jacket and heading back towards the door. "Itachi? Itachi, please!"  
-

MISSING: 40 hours

If Naruto could say he opened his eyes, he would. But the entire socket and skin surrounding it had massed and burned into a horrific mound of scabs, blood, and flesh. He heard a noise coming from beside him but didn't even bother to move. The weight of the room moved over to his side-he could smell something burning off to the side, but other than some occasional popping, it was dead silent. He felt a straw push up to his lips and greedily, he wrapped them around it, coughing when he sucked in the water too fast.

After another few more sips and more simper silence, Naruto finally spoke. "He'll never forgive you for this."

"No one in their right mind would." A hand creeped over Naruto's cheek, and he could feel the calloused fingers tracing over his lips. "But, when this makes me feel better, I'll be able to forgive myself."

"What did I do to you, to deserve this?" The hand on his face felt too intimate, too comforting. It was still the same hand that had hurt him, the same one that was planning to doing more. Silence filled the space back up as the man next to him made the chair screech across the floor. He could feel warmth nearing him and his instincts to try and fight started to kick in. But, there was no where else to go; he just thrashed against the table.

Fingers dug into his mouth, shoving some metal ring between his lips and teeth to keep his mouth open. He could feel the heat and embers coming towards him, the small flecks burning the skin on his cheeks and arms as they peppered him. He screamed loudly, and immediately after, the ember dropped into his mouth. His tongue swelled with the contact, the heat causing his entire body to clamber uselessly. But the coal slipped back further and clogged up his throat. Not only did Naruto choke, but he could feel his throat closing and constricting around the coal, burning his esophagus.

He felt his stomach lurch, and he vomited, causing the coal to hiss and sizzle from the contact. The metal was removed from his teeth and was replaced by a pair of tongs reached in and ripped the dampened coal from between his lips.

Still choking from the vomit and the pain, Naruto coughed, violently. He seized against the table, his head slamming against the table. But, Naruto didn't stop slamming it, to the point where a bloody residue was starting to build up in his hair and underneath his head.

" _Stop that_." He felt fingers in his scalp, pulling his head up. Something soft was placed underneath his head-not to make him comfortable, but to insure he couldn't kill himself this way, now. "I can't have you ruining things like this!" The anger in his hissing tone made Naruto flinch away from him. He sobbed weakly-making the pain his mouth and throat worsen, but the feeling of helpless built up more and more-fear sinking in and forcing its way into his psyche.  
-

MISSING: 42 HOURS

When Itachi finally got a handle on himself, he grunted, feeling his insides getting pushed into. He blinked, eyes fluttering as he let out a sound of discomfort. His hand landed on a pair of very broad shoulder, the bare skin slick underneath his fingers. He dug his nails in and the hot breath that was hitting his shoulder moved up to his ear. "Sorry, did that hurt?"

He had called Kisame after he left his apartment in a rage. He didn't know how much time passed between then and now. They got drinks, ended up in his car, and of course, it ended like it always did. Angry at this own weakness, Itachi tried his best to remain silent as the man above him pounded away. "If it hurts, just tell me to stop."

"I'm fine."

He could feel Kisame roll his eyes. "You're the one who suggested this."

"I know."

Feeling Kisame shift between his legs, he shuddered against the larger body. "Then you could at least get more into it. You were just so passionate, not even a few minutes ago."

Itachi wanted to remind him he was also so drunk he had blacked out for a few minutes-or longer, he wasn't too sure-but he kept his lips in a thin line as he moved the man's face closer to his own. Kissing him was something Itachi rarely ever did-for a good reason-but now it would be the only way to make Kisame shut up.

Immediately, Kisame's annoyance seemed to fade and he continued. Itachi continued to deepen the kiss, making it feel too grossly intimate for him to really enjoy it. He also hated it when Kisame ran his hands down his sides, touching him way too much. But what he especially hated was feeling those hot, pin-pricks of pleasure when Kisame stopped resting on his laurels and would actually fuck him properly. He moaned, wrapping one of his legs around Kisame's hip-he really shouldn't be encouraging him to do more, but he could still feel the buzz of alcohol and sometimes his own weaknesses were hard to ignore.

Kisame kissed his neck, knowing better than to leave marks, speeding up his pace. It was difficult to do this in Kisame's car, but for some reason Itachi always insisted on it-he didn't want to be trapped in the intimate space of Kisame's place, and he would never let Kisame inside his own apartment; Sasuke or not. So, they always copulated somewhere around the properties Kisame's company were demolishing-among the silence, and the bare bones of buildings.

Both of them stopped when they heard what sounded like a flashlight hitting the window.

"Fuck," Itachi breathed against Kisame's shoulder.

He could feel the larger body on top of his shift, reaching for something. "Put your clothes back on," was the harsh toned words Kisame spoke to him. Itachi reached down and into the space behind the passenger seat. They quietly redressed, Kisame exiting the door first, holding up an arm to block the light, and Itachi got out behind him.

"Is that you, Sargent Uchiha?" Itachi froze on the spot, recognizing the voice of Aboitez, one of the other officers he worked with. "What the fuck? What are you doing out here?"

Still quiet, and slightly horrified at the situation, Itachi just stared at the light being shone in his face. He was wide-eyed and bewildered, trying to open his mouth to say something to defend himself, but nothing but puffs of air escaped his lips.

"What the actual fuck, man? You're supposed to be a Sargent and all you're doing in whoring yourself around out here? Does your father know about this?" He could hear the disapproval and his stomach churned. He reached for this radio.

"Too bad you didn't mind your own business."

"Kisame, wa-" But before anyone could properly react, Kisame shot him, once, with a silence gun. Some of the spray hit Itachi's face and could hear the ringing still. His stomach churned again as the body slumped, to the ground, blackening the earth with blood. "You got his blood on me." Itachi commented.

"I don't really care about that right now," Kisame said, grabbing a phone out of his pocket. "Hey, we got a problem." Itachi had a good idea about who he was talking to and remained silent as he finished the call.

"Asshole," Kisame stepped towards the corpse, kicking it a little. "we're gunna have to bring the body to him."

"We?" Itachi asked, incredulously.

"Yes, 'we'," Kisame rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have shot him if he wasn't a cop-especially a cop who knew you."

"Why were there cops on your property at all?"

Kisame bent down, grabbing Aboitez's shoulders and dragging him towards the trunk. "Guess you'll have to ask Pein yourself."

"Wait," Itachi muttered, "We need to move this car off your property. They'll do a check soon-and when he doesn't answer, they'll GPS his location."

"Good thinking," Kisame started rifling through his pockets, throwing a set of keys at Itachi. "I'll meet you at Pein's place."

Hesitantly, Itachi nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you there."  
-

MISSING: 45 hours

"Showing up late?" Pein commented as Itachi closed the large woodened door behind him. Konan was there was well, standing next to her husband. Kisame sat down on the sofa closest to the door-he had cleaned up at some point, no blood to be seen on him.

"I had to move the squad car and do some clean-up."

"At least you had the foresight to do that."

"Why the fuck were there cops on my property, Pein?" Kisame asked, not bothering to hide his disdain. "I thought we had a deal!"

Pein silently stood up, drink in hand. He walked farther into the room, coming eye to eye with Itachi. "You've been slipping up a lot lately, haven't you?" He said it while looking at Itachi, but he also gave a slight side eye to Kisame.

"What did I do?" Kisame whined.

"Same goes for me. I've been doing exactly as you've instructed, _Commissioner_." Itachi spat, irritated at the accusation.

"Your father slipped me quite a few notices about you, today, Itachi."

Itachi didn't even flinch. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Conducting an investigation on your own terms, using your badge to acquire CCTV footage, and giving misleading information to a concerned citizen."

"That 'concerned citizen' is my brother, my father must have told you that?" Pein's eye widened fractionally, but other than that, he gave no reaction.

"Things have been getting out of control lately on the drug front. There's been big talk from more powerful people about a mole inside our station." Pein replied quickly, changing subjects. "One of the reasons I switched you out of vice was to protect you, just in case, but you've been shirking your duties to me, lately."

"Whose fault's that? It's nearly impossible to alter evidence or lab work when you're out in the field doing a poke search for a dead body. I have more paper work and responsibilities now, because _you_ decided to give me 'promotion'."

"Do not forget, when I met you," Pein's eyes narrowed at Itachi's defensive stance. "you were nothing but a lowly runaway, shit stain who had no meaning, no life. I raised you up, put your back on your feet, gave you a purpose. The least you could do is show me a little gratitude."

"'Gratitude,'" Itachi echoed with a slight laugh in his voice. "You should have let me die in the streets."

"It would have been easier than cleaning up your messes." Pein agreed, "but I'm not going to let you waste your talents." Pein shook his hand, brushing off Itachi's anger. "I've had someone drain all the money out of Aboitez's accounts, back date some tickets for him under a fake name, and such. There was a break in the investigation on who was possibly supplying dealers with information. This should be compelling enough for them to divert their attention to him, so, again, be grateful."

" _Thanks_ ," Itachi said with a sarcastic smile.

"Oh, and one more thing, if you're going to insist on this investigation, I'm going to let your indiscretion slide. So, be ready to poke the ground looking for this boy." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed Itachi. "Now, onto you, Kisame-we need to speak about my light accounts." Itachi was already crossing the threshold as Pein started up again.

He waited for at least thirty minutes before Kisame appeared. His nose had been busted open, and blood was still trailing down from his lip. He shook his head when he caught sight of himself in the sidemirror; Itachi reached for some napkins Kisame had in the glove box. He slid into the driver's seat and sighed, "He could've at least called." Taking the napkins from Itachi, he patted the blood away, cleaning up his face a little, but bruises that deep would take a week at least to heal.

"Wouldn't have fit his purposes." Itachi muttered, pushing his hair behind his ears. His stomach ached, and his head pounded-the alcohol had worn off as soon as the shot rang out. He could already feel the lingering horror in his own sobriety sinking into him.

"Your hands are shaking." Kisame commented.

"I just need a drink."

"What investigation were you conducting on your own?" Kisame started the car and drove them down the narrow driveway to the street.

Itachi remained silent for a moment. "My brother's boyfriend is missing."

"Missing? Or _missing_?"

Itachi closed his eyes settling against the headrest. "It's been almost 48 hours."

"Sure does seem like your brother has bad luck with men."

"Not bad luck," Itachi said opening his eyes fractionally.

"Yeah, yeah." Kisame took his eyes off Itachi's face, focusing on the road. He said, after a few lingering moments of silence: "Nobody's perfect."  
-

Sai's head rolled around, falling from one shoulder to the other. He felt a twinge of pain in his neck, knowing there were finger shaped bruises forming a collar. He tried to lift his head up on its own accord, but he was met with a mess of fingers pulling his hair so that his head raised. Itachi's cold, unwavering stare met him-he shuddered, anxious about such a serious look.

"Are we getting to the fun?" Sai wheezed, his smile broke out. Itachi wondered if he thought those fake looks made him seem intimidating. Out of his pocket, Itachi pulled out a metal and leather gag. There were two hooks on either side for keeping the mouth open and Itachi waved it in Sai's face, making his smile widen greatly. "I haven't done any BDSM in a while," Itachi moved closer, "be gentle with me?"

Silently, even through the immediate struggle Sai put up as Itachi attempted to shove the device into his mouth, he managed to get the hooks in place, keeping Sai's mouth open and gapping. "I'm amazed." Itachi commented, "that you haven't begged for your life." Sai's words came out muffled as he tried to force his lips closed, saliva dribbling from the sides of his mouth and wetting his chin. "Naruto's gag was different-we know he had cracked teeth from biting down on something unyielding, but it still needed an opening, so he could swallow…" Itachi trailed off as he headed over to the main event. With tongs, he picked up an ember, still glowing and pulsating with heat. Sai cringed as it was brought over to his face.

He tried to move back, shaking the chair with all his might. Itachi watched, blinking, and unwavering. Sai even attempted to knock the chair over so that it could potentially break, but nothing he did moved it in the way he needed. He shuddered, screaming as loudly as he could, even with the gag. He was choking on the excess saliva he was exuding, his eyes beginning to tear up as Itachi rested the ember right next to his cheek. "Out of respect, I'll give you a moment to speak to your god. But after that, even he won't save you from me."

MISSING: 74 hours

Pein, quite literally, slapped Naruto's missing person's file into Itachi's lap the moment the Uchiha had sat down at his desk.

"You don't seem as hungover as usual," Pein commented, bitingly.

Itachi's eyes narrowed as he brought his cup of coffee to his lips, taking a long drink. "My brother has been staying with me the past couple days and he's a mess. Not exactly the time to be out partying." Pein started to walk away but Itachi turned in his chair, putting out one of his legs. "What the hell is this?" He held the file up in his hand, knowing full well what it was, but he wanted more of an explanation. Considering how events had transpired not even a few days prior, he wanted to confirm this wasn't some kind of trap.

Putting a hand on Itachi's shoulder, Pein leaned in, mouth coming up right next to Itachi's ear. "Given that Aboitez has shamed and thrashed our reputation, I felt that Naruto's case should be put into the most capable hands possible, to bring some hope to our city."

"What do you want in return?"

Pein gave him a cryptic look, something he hadn't seen since the very beginning of his career. "Give them _closure_ , Itachi."

Itachi slapped the file down on his desk. "Have we got a subpoena for his phone yet?"

"Yeah, we're working on it." Itachi opened the file, seeing testimony, screen shots from the camera footage, badly scribbled notes, and some of his own testimony from when he spoke with his father. "We should be getting the call from his provider soon, if not a fax, with his last known location. Got it?"

"Yeah."

MISSING: 78 hours

Itachi sat in a cramped backroom of a Dairy Queen looking at camera footage. The computer chair was hard, and strangely lumpy on the seat. There was a fan sitting next to him, but his face was still flushed from the heat lingering in the back area. He could feel his hair sticking to his face and neck. Periodically, he hit the space bar, took a screenshot, and printed it out. He pushed his glasses off the bridge of his nose, massaging the headache building. Luckily, this was a franchise and not corporate-so there were more cameras, even ones pointing at the street. Paranoia always helped the police more than anyone could have known.

The owner had been called not even five minutes from when they walked in-so everyone in the store was a buzz. Itachi hated when things like this happened, the police tended to operate better when they were discreet, but it was the citizens excitement around a crime that halted their progress. He'd been bothered by the owner at least once every ten minutes since he had sat down.

So, Itachi did what he did best.

Ignored it.

They had found the day in question, and Naruto's unfortunate kidnapping-getting hit by a car like that would have assured no struggle and probably no consciousness. Itachi requested his subordinate retrieve him so coffee after that, so he could pour through the next few hours of footage to see if he could find the car from that night. They'd covered their license plate with tape and completely obscured their identity with baggy clothes and what looked like a ski-mask. All that Itachi could tell was that this was a large man, comparable to someone of Kisame's size, but because of his baggy clothes, he couldn't be sure.

The problem was going to be that this footage was more grainy than a bag of rice-and details were difficult to make out. Itachi actually had to break out his glasses-the ones he only used for driving-just so he could see. Even if he saw a car with the same make and model-twelve, and rising-he may not be able to make out their license plates appropriately.

"Sargent," He set the coffee down next to Itachi and he grunted his acknowledgements. "It's boiling in here."

"You haven't been here the entire time." Itachi sighed, trying to push the damp hairs on his face behind his ears.

"Maybe we should take this back to the station?"

"I was already considering that." Itachi replied. "They don't have anything I can use to zoom or enhance this footage, so I can see it better."

His subordinate leaned over the top of the computer chair, getting far too close for comfort, and stared at the footage, frowning. "How are we supposed to get anything from this?

"I got a make and a model, but that doesn't guarantee that this is the perpetrators' normal car-and if it is, I'm trying to see how many of the same car, their license plates, excetera, pop up. But as you can tell, the license plate is very difficult to discern with how…bad, the footage is." Itachi paused for a moment, leaning back in the chair so his subordinate was pushed out his space. "Let's flash drive it and take it back. As for you, I need you to call any body shops within…twenty-five miles, to see if they've worked on any frontal damage on this kind of car, got it?"

"Yes sir," Itachi plugged his flash drive in, and started the process of downloading the days of footage onto it. He could still feel the lingering presence of the officer behind him, and shot him a brief glance. They had come here in separate cars, so he didn't know why he was still here.

"Problem?"

"I, um, just-"

Itachi turned so he was fully facing the officer. "What?"

"He called you,"

"Indeed, he did."

"Several times,"

"Yes, they already took that information off my phone." Itachi replied plainly. "What's the problem?"

"Why did he call you?"

"I'm much nicer than my father." Itachi said calmly.

"But…"

"Look, I know you're going to say something about my personal involvement in this case and how I should be removed. But this is what the commissioner wants-and we're down a detective as is. My feelings won't be an issue in this case."

"Is that why you didn't answer your phone when he called?" Itachi felt a sinking feeling in his stomach at those words, but on the outside, his eyes just narrowed. "because your feelings aren't an issue?"

"I care that my brother is hurt, I care that Naruto's absence is causing ripples-do not misconstrue that. I know I made a mistake, but like many of you seem to mutter when you're alone around the water cooler, I'm a bit 'selfish and irresponsible'," He put air quotes around it for emphasis which caused the officer's mouth to flap open uselessly. Itachi held up a hand. "This is my cross to bear, and I will do my best to get closure on this case. Understand?"

"Yes, sir…"

"Good, now go away."

Quickly, the officer disappeared from Itachi's sight and the Uchiha sighed. It was gunna be a long investigation.

MISSING: 92 hours

Itachi ran a hand through his hair. His eyes hurt, his head hurt, and his back inconsolable after sitting for nearly eight hours watching footage, typing in license plates, and trying to find everything he could. To be able to stand here, in the field, doing a poke search, felt like liberation. They'd covered such a large area but found nothing so far except the usual: needles, garbage, and random scraps probably from a homeless camp.

One of the officers found what looked like remnants of a phone, but it was impossible to tell if it was Naruto's or had any bearing in the case. It was just close enough to his last reported GPS location to be relevant to the search.

But daylight was dying, now-and it was going to be difficult to continue the search even within thirty minutes.

Itachi spied the sergeant coming to relieve him and sighed with exhaustion. The next couple days were supposed to be his days off, but that never meant they were truly his to enjoy. If anything were to be uncovered, even If it was in the next few hours, he'd be right back at the office.  
-

MISSING: 122 Hours

Itachi got the call while he was at home, dozing off on the couch, but the moment he heard his father's confirmation, he was on his feet. It was over, they'd found him-or rather, his body. Fugaku spoke heatedly over the phone with Itachi, the Uchiha pacing the floor of his living room as he listened. He would have to be there first thing in the morning after the autopsy had concluded and as much evidence was pulled. Detectives were at the scene-and the rest was just a waiting game on if they found something they could use.

But the most delicate part came when Sasuke stepped through the threshold of Itachi's home-breaking the news. Fugaku insisted he be there when the time came, but Itachi knew from experience his father would only make matters much worse.

So Itachi got everything ready for his brother's return, waiting with bated breath for him to walk through the door. When Sasuke finally arrived, Itachi met him at the door, taking the back pack from his hands and leading him into the living room. "We need to talk,"

Sasuke froze when he saw a bottle of vodka sitting in the middle of the coffee table. "Is this the kind of talk where we're celebrating?"

"Sit down," Itachi began.

"Itachi?"

"Sasuke, please." He made a motion with his hand and Sasuke's knees got weak-he swayed to the point where his back hit the wall, eyes wide.

"No,"

"We found Naruto's body,"

"No,"

"I'm sorry, we didn't make it in time." The anguish in Sasuke's scream as he fell to his knees caused Itachi's heart to throb. He fell to his knees as well, holding Sasuke in his arms as the younger Uchiha rocked back and forth.

Itachi spent hours comforting Sasuke, and just like he thought, Sasuke turned to the bottle to help drown his sorrows-and Itachi could indulge himself without judgement. The time blurred together through tears and vomit, Itachi's comforting hand holding back Sasuke's hair as he watched him purge. He hoped that with a single flush, it would also take the sadness.  
-

Itachi woke up with a bitter taste in his mouth and a persistent quake in his stomach that traveled to his head every time he blinked. He hadn't thrown up last night but his lack of binging the past few days were starting to show their negative effects. But he couldn't stay helplessly in bed like his brother. He had to go and face they day. Sasuke could easily call his work and go on bereavement until Naruto's funeral, but Itachi didn't have that luxury. He needed to check the autopsy and see if the other detectives had found anything.

He got ready for a day, including the worst shower of his life. The heat making his head spin but the cold shocking his muscles so badly he started to gag. Everything was telling him this would not end well for him, but he had to persist. They had already come so far, now was not the time to falter.

When he got to the mortuary, he already had one cup of coffee and two bottles of water, trying to shake the nausea, but all it did was slosh around in his stomach, heavily. It felt like he was being weighed down, and only got worse when he walked inside-his father took one look at him and sighed, rather loudly, at Itachi.

"Couldn't wait 'til tonight?"

"Not the time."

The two of them straightened up when they were led into the room containing all the bodies, a medical examiner waved them in and proceeded to open the little cubby they needed to see the corpse. Itachi's stomach flopped again, feeling the sickness rising-sweat started to gather on his brow even in the refrigerated room. The body, as per usual, was covered in a sheet. The medical examiner paused for a moment before lifting the sheet, looking at the two of them with a somewhat reluctant look. This particular examiner had been working with the department for years, and had obviously seen quite a bit, but in all of Itachi's time with the force, he had never seen her hesitate before.

"Get on with it, Tsunade." Fugaku's unease could be easily read as impatience, which is why Itachi chose not to comment on his father's outburst.

"Just," She held up her hand for a moment. "You're going to want to brace yourselves."

Fugaku and Itachi stared widely when the sheet was removed, revealing Naruto's horribly mangled corpse. His eyes completely burnt from their sockets, and in their place sat a mound of hideous scabbing, his stomach had been split open, or maybe had burst, and was leaking with what looked like crushed up coals and entrails. His mouth was burned around the edges, showing blisters and freshly peeled back skin from their popping. Even though it was faint, Itachi smell the edge of decay-the horrific lingering of sweetness that came with the rotting of meat.

Itachi's stomach lurched, but he did his best to swallow back sickness as Tsunade slapped down an autopsy report.

"Because of the severity of this case, certain things have not been properly cleaned. There is still some evidence that needs to be worked over." She began, looking up at their two disgusted faces. "Some things to note, obviously, is that he was forcibly fed coals-which were still hot, as you may have guessed from the blistering around his mouth. His teeth are also cracked, some of them so badly that they could probably be found in the contents of his stomach…" Tsunade paused, looking down at the mess. "If we can, um, properly process anything from it."

"How long has he been like this?" Fugaku asked, Itachi could see a clear bead of sweat from his forehead.

"His corpse is actually remarkably fresh, as not much carrion birds or bugs had gotten to it, so we can assume it was dumped, at most, twelve hours before it was found. He has bruising and scabbing on the back of his scalp-severe bruising along the abdomen, consistent with him being hit by a car. The stomach area had to be cut open to reveal the coals-this was most likely done so at the scene where we found the body. The cut is not by any means a surgical cut, so it was probably done by someone who had no formal medical training. However, their eye wounds were actually treated and taken care of, to a degree, perhaps to sustain his life for a longer amount of time."

"Th-this isn't consistent with any serial pattern we have, is it?"

"Not that I recall." She said with a shrug. "And even if this is a new killer, we'd have to start waiting for other bodies to start showing up to see any pattern."

"Anything DNA related you could find?" Itachi cut in.

"Unfortunately, there was nothing. The body wasn't exactly clean or anything but there was nothing under the nails, in the anal cavity, or the mouth."

"Great."

Itachi left his father at the mortuary but didn't travel outside the parking lot. He sat in his car, completely still and revisiting the image in his head, the distraught brother he had sitting at home, and the unwavering nausea plaguing his stomach. Every time he breathed, the smell wafted to him. Opening the car door, Itachi leaned out the side and vomited. The heaving of his stomach sending everything up with it until even the yellowed bile sat on the concrete, slowly running towards the closest sewer drain. He sat back in his seat, head pounding worse than before, knowing the investigation was only going to get more complication from here.

This was his cross to bear-and he wasn't going to let it crucify him.


End file.
